AUGUSTA (AP) — Maine Republican Gov. Paul LePage says drilling for oil in waters off the state’s coast could increase energy independence and provide more heating oil for Mainers. LePage in a Maine Public interview on Tuesday said the state has recently weathered a cold snap and severe shortages in petroleum products. President Donald Trump’s […]
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Posted inBusiness, sj-web
USGS discovers about 20 billion barrels of oil in West Texas
The agency said in a release Tuesday that the Wolfcamp Shale geologic formation in the Midland area contains an estimated 20 billion barrels of oil. It’s also estimated to hold 16 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 1.6 billion barrels of natural gas liquids. Officials say the discovery is nearly three times larger than […]
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Posted inFranklin, Lewiston-Auburn, Livermore Falls Advertiser
Contaminants found at Livermore Falls Fire Station
LIVERMORE FALLS — A recent boring indicates there is petroleum contaminating the ground around the Livermore Falls Fire Station on Park Street. Town Manager Kristal Flagg said at Tuesday’s selectmen meeting borings were done last week. Enough petroleum was found to require the town to report it to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. The tests […]
Posted inBusiness
Maine DEP to make oil train data public again
AUGUSTA — After nearly five months of silence on the subject, state environmental officials will resume releasing information about the passage of oil trains through Maine. The change in policy follows consultations with the Attorney General’s office on a controversial law, enacted in October, which prevents state and local officials from divulging any information about […]
Posted inBusiness, sj-web
U.S. homes to pay less for heat this winter
PORTLAND — Some U.S. households can expect to save hundreds of dollars this winter with a drop in heating bills, thanks to a combination of lower energy prices and warmer weather across most of the country, the U.S. Energy Department predicted Tuesday. The department’s annual outlook calls for lower heating bills, with the biggest savings for […]
Posted inMaine
Not on oil? A quick look at the rest of Maine’s heating marketplace
* Wood Many homeowners who’ve moved off heating oil have turned to burning cordwood and pellets, according to Lisa Smith at the Governor’s Energy Office. Thirteen percent of Maine homes now rely on wood heat, the second-highest rate in the country, as counted by the 2010 U.S. Census. Smith only started tracking wood-pellet prices two […]
Posted inMaine
Low-cost heating oil to fuel household spending
Some years, finding a good-news story about heating oil is as likely as discovering a purple unicorn grazing in Baxter State Park. Then there’s this year. Behold, the unicorn: If prices stay as they are this very minute, Mainers who heat with oil — and most do — will save big this winter. By their […]
Posted inAdvertiser Democrat, Maine
North to Augusta: Delegation split on pipeline expansion, hayride safety on State House docket
Pipeline or no pipeline? In a sharp divide, the two junior members of Maine’s U.S. Congressional delegation made arguments for and against the now famed Keystone XL oil pipeline expansion proposal. In speeches earlier this month, U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, and 2nd District U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin, a Republican, offered countering views on the […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Lower prices prompting smiles at the pumps
Falling gas prices State average for a gallon of regular on Dec. 29: $2.475 Lewiston-Auburn metro average on Dec. 29: $2.41 National average on Dec. 29: $2.27 State average one month ago: $2.92 State average one year ago: $3.53 For more information: http://fuelgaugereport.aaa.com/states/maine/ Source: AAA of Northern New England LEWISTON — Gas was $2.26 a […]
Posted inOp-Eds
Austin Bay: Putin’s Kemlin losing the oil price war
Free enterprise is proving to be Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s most potent foe. Moscow’s February 2014 invasion of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and its immediate annexation drastically altered international diplomatic calculations. In a year marked by the homicidal rise of the Islamic State and Chinese probes of East Asian maritime borders, Putin’s destruction of post-Cold War […]